I saw a fox this morning - am I likely to see him/her again?

[DanJeffery]

I live on an small estate of relatively new houses. I have a small garden and over my back fence there is an old railway embankment with trees and bracken and grass, with a foot path down one side. Unfortunately there is often a litter on the path. Over the other side of this is a farmer's large field which is currently being harvested. There are a lot of farmers fields in this area but also some housing and a pubs and a few shops and a chinese takeaway.

This morning at 5.30am I let my dog into the garden and looked up at the embankment and saw a fox staring back at me from a three foot gap in the undergrowth. We stood staring at each other for several seconds. I then went back indoors to tell my wife but when I returned it had gone.

I last saw a fox here about ten years ago, trotting down the road.

I am not usually out of bed at 5.30 but often get up at 6am for work. I would love to see this fox again, and woujld love to photograph it. I wonder how likely it is to return to the same place at a similar time? Does anyone have any advice to offer? (I don't want to encourage wildlife into the garden itself in case our dog scares it).

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by DanJeffery

... over my back fence there is an old railway embankment with trees and bracken and grass ... and a chinese takeaway.

I should think the above combination would guarantee more sightings!

Seriously, sounds like the area is good for a semi urban fox. Urban foxes tend to be a little more nomadic than rural ones, so chances it could have just been passing through. However, they tend to take the same hunting routes more often than not, so chances are good you'll see him/her again. This time of year especially, while youngsters are still in the family group, parents will be out and about during the daytime. I've seen foxes at all times of the day when birdwatching. My own garden one generally goes to earth just after dawn but my Mum's foxes can be seen sunbathing up until about 10.00am.

In the area you describe, I'm not sure putting food out is a good idea as you could easily have rats in the vicinity given the railway and litter already there. What you could do is pop out to the end of the garden before letting the dog out and have a peep from time to time about the same time you saw it today - (and just have your camera ready in case!) Maybe create yourself some sort of natural hide at the bottom of the garden that will give you views of the area but keep you fairly concealed. They also like toys (well the cubs certainly do!) perhaps you could chuck a soft dog ball over the fence then see if it's tampered with in the coming weeks!

[Words]

Sounds like good advice. They can be irritatingly elusive, but basically if you saw it once, with patience you'll probably see it again. Indeed it may have been part hidden on other occasions, but now you knwo to look you may have more luck. If you want to photograph it, keep as still as possible (movement may startle it), and see what you get. A long lens helps.

[DanJeffery]

Thank you Picidae and Words.

Unfortunately the fence at the end of the garden is rather tall so the only way I can get a clear line of sight to the area where I saw the fox is from the conservatory doorway. But the garden is only short and I have looked with my 100-400mm lens and APS-C sensor DSLR and if he/she appears in the same spot he/she appear large enough. The conservatory windows and doors have fairly thick whbite nets acroos them, and they run across the doorway even when the door is open so it sould function as a reasonable hide.

I like the idea of leaving a ball for them to play with.

So I have the camera and tripod close to hand and here's hoping. Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

(I must be having a good wildlife day today - I saw a frog in the garden this afternoon and we don't even have a pond - I'm pretty sure it was a frog not a toad. I guess the fox might get a bit of a French delicacy...)

[aland]

Hi dan, the note about encouraging rats is about right, but you could try one of the large bones that are sold for dogs i think they are cooked somehow perhaps roasted, my wife buys them at a boot fair for the cubs on our land they take them all over the place and use them like toys, we found that they had been in our local playing field and carried home a ball with a rope attached like you throw for your dog it ends up in the stables and paddocks, my wife also ties bonios up in the air away from rats reach, aland.

[ANNO]

try the same time and place - fox's tend to stick to routines, occasionally changing for no apparent reason!